At the back of the hill: WONTON, WONTON SOUP, WONTON SOUP WITH NOODLES, WONTON NOODLE SOUP

At the back of the hill

Warning: If you stay here long enough you will gain weight! Grazing here strongly suggests that you are either
omnivorous, or a glutton. And you might like cheese-doodles. BTW: I'm presently searching for another person who
likes cheese-doodles. All cheese-doodling ended in 2010, and there hasn't been any in far too long. Please form a
caseophilic line to the right. Thank you.

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 05, 2011

WONTON, WONTON SOUP, WONTON SOUP

WITH NOODLES, WONTON NOODLE SOUP

On Monday I wrote about eating Wonton, and mentioned that my

readers should expect a recipe on this blog sometime soon. Soon is now.
[RECAP: Wonton ( wan tan) are Cantonese soul food. Cantonese are neurotic (in
a very good way) about food. If you are in San Francisco, you probably want to go to
Hon's Wun Tun House () on Kearny Street between Commercial and Clay
Streets, if you are in Hong Kong, definitely visit the heirs to Scrawny Mak: Mak's
Noodle (), 77 Wellington Street - Ground Floor, Central District, HK. (
, , 77, ); Mak Man Kee Noodle ( ), 51 Parkes Street -

Ground Floor, Jordan (in the Yau Tsim Mong District ), Kowloon. (, ,

, 51, ); Chung Kee Noodle (), 37 Wing Kut Street, Sheung

Wan, HK (, , , 37). Hon's in C'town is very good, Mak's in Hong

Kong is famous. Chung Kee Noodle is actually Scrawny Mak's oldest son's place.]

WANTAN TONG-MIEN
Wonton are small noodle-skin dumplings, like ravioli or kreplach, filled with
either pork or shrimp, often a mixture of both. They are usually served in
broth - the ends of the noodly wrapper trail in the liquid like fish or clouds.
All of China makes wonton, but only the Cantonese make wonderful
wonton. The difference is in the details: filling - broth - additions - attitude.
Wantan tong-mien: Wonton soup-noodles. Utterly Cantonese.
Rather than making your own wrappers, it is best to buy them premade the quality is virtually the same, and if you live near Chinatown (
'Tongyan Kai') you can simply buy them by the pound at Hon's. So I shall
not discuss how to make the skins, other than to say that if you've made
kreplach from scratch, you could use the same recipe for the wrapper.

About Me
Name:
The back of the hill
Location:
San Francisco
Early middle-aged, younger looking than you.
And hardly any arthritis. Really. Resident of
the Bay Area, though formerly of somewhere
in the Netherlands - living in Europe with a
US passport can be an adventure. I should
also mention that I am not a Red-Sea
pedestrian. Make of that what you will.
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Previous Posts
DRIED FLOUNDER OR
HARFISKUR - FISH JERKY IN
YOUR ...
WONTON, WANTAN, WUNTUN:
HON'S WUN TUN HOUSE AND
SC...
LOONIES WARN OF END OF DAYS
I WANT MY LIFE BACK
DUR KE DHOL ...
CROTCHETY RESOLUTIONS
MY CHEESE IS GONE!
FRIENDS, JUST FRIENDS
SMELLING LIKE A YOUNG GIRL
HOW DO YOU SAY THAT ON
YOUR PLANET?

WONTON FILLING
Enough for fifty dumplings

One cup chopped shrimp.

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At the back of the hill: WONTON, WONTON SOUP, WONTON SOUP WITH NOODLES, WONTON NOODLE SOUP

One cup ground pork.

Quarter cup chopped water chestnuts ( matai).
One TBS minced parsley ( yeung heung kan) .
One TBS minced cilantro ( yuen sai).
One stalk scallion ( tsung), minced.
Half TBS sherry or rice wine.
Half TBS oyster sauce ( hoyau).
One Tsp. soy sauce ( cheung yau, si yau).
One Tsp. sesame oil ( ma yau).
Half Tsp. cornstarch ( yiuk mai din fan).
Half Tsp. sugar ( pak tong).
Regarding cup measurements for the shrimp and pork: these are more or less eight
ounces or 226 grammes. Trust me on this, I weighed it out recently just to be sure.

Mix everything, but do not overwork it, as doing so makes the meat tough.
The shrimp fragments should be larger than the pork or water chestnut
particles, everything else smaller - reason being that you want the 'crunch'
of the shrimp, and the lesser ingredients need to be evenly distributed
throughout.
Parsley is NOT traditional, but I like the taste, and it's good for the
digestion.
Substitutions can be made, for instance the proportion of shrimp
increased drastically and the quantity of pork decreased correspondingly.
Instead of water chestnut, chopped rehydrated cloud ear ( wun yi)
could be used, as they too have a wonderful textural effect.
Note: the amount of pork given above is the equivalent of two fresh
Italian sausages. You could actually use four sausages squeezed from
their casings for the filling entirely, if you're strapped for time. Radical, and
perhaps it qualifies as 'fusion cuisine'.
But it certainly won't be kosher.
Put a dab of filling into each wonton skin, brush the exposed edges with
egg wash, and first press two diagonal corners against each other, then
bring up the other two corners up to form tails, pressing out the air in the
pouch.
The result should look like a purse or hobo's pack.
Place each finished dumpling on a floured plate or tray. It is VERY
important that the surface be floured. Otherwise you will rip the wontons
when you try to pick them up.
You're making fifty wonton. Whatever you do not intend to use
immediately, you can wrap in plastic and freeze.

SOUP FOR WONTON

Two pounds chicken on the bone.
One pound pork on the bone.
Half cup pieces dried flounder ( jorhau yu,

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At the back of the hill: WONTON, WONTON SOUP, WONTON SOUP WITH NOODLES, WONTON NOODLE SOUP

daidei yu).
Two TBS dried shrimp.
Four quarts (16 cups, approx 5 litres) water.
Quarter cup sherry or rice wine.
Three or four slices ginger.
Half Tsp. white peppercorns.
Roast or fry the dried flounder pieces nicely brown, but do not burn them.
Blanch the chicken and pork briefly in boiling water, drain and rinse well.
Place everything except the dried shrimp in a cauldron and simmer on low
for three hours, skimming a few times in the first half hour.
Add the dried shrimp in the last half hour.
Strain very well.
Blanching the meat and bones first prevents overmuch scum, and yields a
much cleaner broth.
The dried flounder is the essential Cantonese touch - it will NOT make
the broth taste like stinky dried fish, but instead unify the flavours and add
a nutty seafood saveur of its own.
Think of it as bouillon base.

Well then. You have your wonton, you've got the broth. What else will you
need?

OTHER 'STUFF'
Egg-noodles. These have to be thin and fresh, for the best texture and
taste. Fresh egg noodles need about a minute of blanching, whereas dried
noodles take between three to five minutes, depending on thickness.
Dried noodles will also have a whiff of lye water.
Vegetables. It is very 'Chinatown' to add a few coarsely ripped baby
bokchoi ( siu paktsoi) to the bowl of soup, though it isn't traditional.
For that matter, neither is adding noodles, and most non-Cantonese are
appalled at that innovation, so go right ahead.
The sweet crisp freshness of the tiny greens are a marvelous chiddush.
Meats. Some people like to add some thinly sliced charsiu pork ()
on top of the soup. This is not necessary at all, but no great heresy
either. If you choose to do so, use the fattier kind.
I've added chunks of roast duck, which is also delicious.
Garnishes. Garlic chives are traditional in Hong Kong, but regular chives
also can. Chopped scallion works too.
Personally I like to dump some cilantro on top.
Dipping sauce. I am a barbarian, I like hot and salty. What works for
me is equal parts soy sauce, oyster sauce, chilipaste, and dark vinegar,
with a little sugar and finely minced ginger mixed in. If it's too stiff, add
some Louisiana hot sauce.

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At the back of the hill: WONTON, WONTON SOUP, WONTON SOUP WITH NOODLES, WONTON NOODLE SOUP

You do not really need a dip for the wontons, but it is always fun to play
with your food.

ASSEMBLING WONTON NOODLE SOUP

It's supposed to be merely a snack and require only a small bowl, but
after going through all the trouble of getting everything ready you aren't
going to cook any other dishes.
So go ahead, use the big bowls.
Keep the broth on the back burner, below boiling temperature.
Heat up a large pot of water. When it boils, dump in the wonton. They're
done when they all float. Scoop them out and apportion them in the
bowls. Gently pour a sufficient quantity of hot broth over them. Put a
porcelain soup spoon in each bowl, anchored by the wonton.
Blanch the noodles in the boiling water till toothsome. Immediately rinse
them in cold water to stop them cooking any further. Place a skein on top
of the wontons in the bowls, top off with a little more broth.
Add whatever else you feel necessary at this point, but it's fine already.
Garnish with chives, or scallion, and cilantro.
Now, go enjoy your wonton soup-noodles ( wantan tong-mien) in
front of the television, with one of your legs hurked up on the chair,
wearing nothing but pajama pants and a wife-beater.
I would suggest watching a Chinese soap-opera, but you might not
have that in your part of the world.
Maybe the discovery channel instead?

AFTER WORD
Right about now you are probably wondering 'why so specific an order to
the soup assembly? Why not cook the noodles and wontons IN the broth?
'
There are two very good reasons. The first one is that the wonton and the
noodles have different cooking times. The second reason is that you do
not want the starches that adhere to either the noodles or the wontons to
muddy-up your fine broth.
Additionally, it just looks better if the wontons and the noodles form
distinct areas in your bowl. That's why the dark green of scallions are, to
my mind, a better garnish than the garlic chives commonly used - they're
more dramatic, more visually appealing.
For the same reason, three thin slices of charsiu fanned out on top are
also pleasing.

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At the back of the hill: WONTON, WONTON SOUP, WONTON SOUP WITH NOODLES, WONTON NOODLE SOUP

==========================================================================
NOTE: Readers may contact me directly:
LETTER BOX.
All correspondence will be kept in confidence.
==========================================================================

Labels: Chinese food, San Francisco Chinatown, , ,

, , ,
posted by The back of the hill @ 1/05/2011 05:43:00 PM

5 Comments:

At 10:13 AM,

heretically amphibious said

King of Thai Restaurant adds yow choy and charsiu to their won ton soup,
with noodles optional.

At 4:01 PM,

The back of the hill said

Please note - new shark fin post:

http://atthebackofthehill.blogspot.com/2011/05/shark-finsoup-delicious-and-refined.html.
Mmmm, delicious shark fin!

At 10:29 AM,

Anonymous said

Really, there is nothing better than the wanton made at home.

At 10:40 PM,

Anonymous said

Make wanton while the sun shines!

At 10:25 AM,

The back of the hill said

"Make wanton while the sun shines!"

And in the dark. Make it whenever it seems right to do so.
I heartily approve, either way.
Need any help?
Post a Comment

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At the back of the hill: WONTON, WONTON SOUP, WONTON SOUP WITH NOODLES, WONTON NOODLE SOUP

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